Stop Calling Her
by youcantseeus
Summary: Edmund is very annoyed when Caspian keeps calling the Pevensies back into Narnia so that he can spend time with Susan ... but is it truly just annoyance or does jealousy play a role? CaspianEdmund. Complete.
1. Caspian and Susan

_AN: This is just a fun little Caspian/Edmund piece that I came up with. It will obviously be slash and should be three to five chapters long. Fairly movieverse-ish and yes, this is my first time writing movieverse. I love reviews. _

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Chapter One: Caspian and Susan

Edmund wanted to kill him.

More specifically, Edmund wanted to roast him slowly over a fire and then boil his entrails. Yes, Caspian was turning him into a torture enthusiast. Or perhaps that scenario was rather cannibalistic. Wonderful.

He watched as Susan and Caspian walked along the path in front of him. They reminded him of something out of a Victorian card, despite the fact that Narnia was more medieval than Victorian. Caspian was so gallant that it made Edmund sick to his stomach. Once, he actually stopped to lay his cape on a patch of muddy ground so that Susan could walk across. Disgusting. Edmund made sure to cross immediately after Susan, even though he knew the gesture was only meant for the girls and to ground the cape into the mud with his boots.

The bad part was that neither Lucy nor Peter seemed to mind, very much, being uprooted from their own world and tagging along on Caspian and Susan's courtships. Oh, Caspian usually had some flimsy pretext for calling them. Something that he wanted to consult Peter about or some minor problem that required help, but Edmund had no doubt that his sister was the main attraction. Peter had put up a few weak protests the first time or two. He and Susan weren't supposed to be here, he'd say, but these soon ceased because, Edmund suspected, he was secretly thrilled to be in Narnia, even if only for a day, which is about how long they usually stayed.

Lucy, of course, was always up for a day of fun and being in Narnia was certainly more fun than their own world. The only time when she showed any reluctance at all was when Edmund suggested that perhaps Aslan wouldn't like them, especially Peter and Susan, coming back to Narnia so often. She had thought on this a long time, but responded that if Aslan didn't want them here, then they simply wouldn't be allowed to come. It wasn't as though they could _help_ being pulled from their own world. Edmund thought that she suspected that his own motives for not wanting to be in Narnia were not nearly so high-minded.

Of course, she was right. Edmund's reasons for not wanting to be pulled into Narnia every other day or so were very mundane. At the moment, he was upset because he had a rugby game in three hours back in England and he knew that, after spending all this time in Narnia, that he would be exhausted and play poorly. It wasn't as though he was exactly the best player on the team anyway, but Peter played (and was very good), so God forbid that Edmund want to do something interesting with his time like join the chess team.

But now he was becoming grouchy. Lucy always teased him about being grouchy. Ahead of him, Caspian put his arm around Susan's waist and squeezed her tightly. She giggled. "You know," Edmund said, voicing his frustrations, "I come to Narnia to have adventures, not to watch you grope my sister."

Susan scowled back at him, but Peter and Lucy laughed and even Caspian gave him a sidelong smile.

-- -- --

"Oh lighten up, Ed," Peter told him later when Edmund talked to him at school. "Honestly, it is usually Susan who is the wet blanket."

"I'm not being a wet blanket," Edmund said, knowing that, in fact, he was. "And this whole thing is Susan's fault! We have to drop everything we are doing just so we can watch Caspian and Susan hold hands and frolic through the meadow or something equally stupid. It isn't even as though we get a choice."

Peter who had been grinning at Edmund's outburst frowned at this, thinking. "Don't you ever feel like you could?" he asked. "Not come, if you really, really tried with everything that is in you, I mean."

Edmund looked at his brother for a long moment. "No! I've tried not to come. The stupid horn always pulls me right along."

Peter shrugged. "Maybe it is just me, then." He gave a long sigh. "It's not like you to be so protective of Susan, you know."

Edmund snorted. "I'm not protective. I'm annoyed. And mildly disgusted," Edmund could never quite figure out why seeing Susan and Caspian together disgusted him so, but it did. There was an essential wrongness about it.

"Grow up," Peter told him, lightly. "What you are talking about is perfectly normal behavior for people our age, you know."

-- -- --

Edmund ground his teeth. The Narnians loved the romance that was blooming between Caspian and Susan. Some well-meaning friend had commissioned a portrait of the couple and now they were standing before the painter in matching yellow outfits, trying different poses.

"Well," Edmund said to Lucy who was standing beside him and watching the proceedings (Peter had apparently found something better to do while in Narnia), "I am glad to see that both Susan _and _Caspian are wearing their prettiest dresses for this portrait."

Lucy giggled at this and Caspian, hearing, laughed as well. They had teased him before about his taste in clothes. Caspian tended to favor very elaborate tunics with frills and designs and lace and satin and billowing sleeves. He suspected that this was as much the Telmarine sense of style for young, attractive men as it was any sort of vanity on Caspian's part, but it was still a bit hard to get used to. Luckily, no one was trying to dress Edmund or Peter up like girls, though they were often presented with tunics that matched both Caspian and the girls in color.

Susan gave Edmund's joke a halfhearted smile at best. "You two tell us what pose looks best," she said. "What if we stand with our fingers barely touching and I look away from him as if shy?" She demonstrated.

"You aren't really that shy," Lucy said.

"You can pose like that if you want to look like you hate your boyfriend," Edmund put in.

"Well, how then?" she asked, with one hand on her hip, apparently a bit miffed at Edmund's sarcastic tone.

Edmund had to fight to keep the smirk off his face. What an opportunity. "Caspian should be on one knee," he said and Caspian dropped to one knee. "Yes, but pull your left knee back farther. Farther," Edmund continued. "Good, now lift one hand up towards Susan. Higher. Higher. And extend the other hand straight outwards. Good. Now, Susan, you put your hand on his face. Yes, like that, only turn his face towards us," Lucy was starting to give Edmund an odd look, but he ignored it. "Caspian, arch your back more. More. More. Mo--" but Caspian couldn't arch his back any more, for at that moment, he fell backwards into a large urn with a bang and the room dissolved into laughter.

Susan, who was the only one not laughing, swooped down on Caspian and helped him up. "Honestly, Edmund, he could have been hurt."

"Oh, what a shame," Lucy exclaimed as Caspian turned around. "You've split your tunic down the back."

"What?" asked Caspian who was still laughing. He turned his head and tried to see his back, which was impossible.

Susan crossed her arms. "You'll have to go change. And so will I. Good job, Edmund."

Caspian put his hands on Susan's arms and smiled down at her. "Don't fret at him. It was my fault. Any fool who can't keep from falling over deserves to have his clothes ruined."

He winked at Edmund taking Susan's arm and leaving the room and Edmund remembered, through the haze on frustration that always accompanied his interactions with Caspian these days, that he had actually quite liked the young prince when they had first met.

-- -- --

Edmund was taking a shower at his school when he felt something pinch at him.

"Oi!" he yelled, looking around for the pervert who had pinched him on the arse. Then he felt a pulling sensation at his elbow.

Damn.

He made a mad dash for the corner bench where his pajamas were lying, ignoring the fact that the other boys were staring at him. He grabbed the trousers and struggled to put his legs through the holes, then yanked them up his hips and buttoned them. He didn't even have time to grab the shirt before the room jerked around and dissolved into Narnia.

Edmund found himself standing in the middle of a crowded room (of course!) looking right at Caspian. The horn always called them directly to one of the rooms in Caspian's castle. Apparently, they would always go where they thought they were needed and they knew, now, that they weren't needed at the ruins of Cair Paravel.

He saw that his brother and sisters were standing nearby. Lucy had a toothbrush shoved in her mouth and Peter looked as though he had been asleep when he got the call, but somehow Susan was perfectly combed and looked like a girl out of a magazine despite being in her robe and nightgown.

Everyone was looking at him. There was perfect silence in the room until Lucy gave a small, suppressed giggle. This seemed to loosen up the atmosphere a bit and there was uneasy laughter all around. Edmund crossed his arms over his chest, partly out of anger, but mostly because he was _freezing_.

"I'm glad that you find my near nudity so funny," Edmund whispered to Peter, furiously. He felt naked. The thin white cotton trousers were clinging to his wet legs and he wasn't even wearing any underwear.

Caspian who wasn't laughing, but whose mouth was gaping open, spoke. "I -- you have my sincerest apologies, King Edmund. All of you have my sincerest apologies. I have no way of knowing what time it is in your world when I blow the horn or what you are doing. I hope --"

"Yes, yes, you're sorry, we get it," Edmund interrupted. He was dripping all over the marble floor. "Can I please go somewhere to wash the soap out of my hair and change my clothes?"

"Er, right," Caspian said. He motioned at a servant. "Please show the kings and queens where they can freshen up."

Edmund was led to one of the castle's many guest room and given clothes and a bowl of water to wash his hair. Almost immediately, however, Caspian himself entered the room and closed the door. "I am so, so sorry," he burst out. "I wouldn't do anything to try to embarrass you, but there was just no way for me to tell that you were – um. Occupied." He waved his hand vaguely at Edmund's torso. Caspian always seemed to alternate between practically worshiping Edmund and his siblings as ancient kings and queens and slipping into bossing them around. Apparently, today he was in the former mood.

Edmund cocked his head to the side. "Well there is one way," he said. "To see to it that you never embarrass me again. _Stop calling her_."

Caspian looked at him in confusion. "Her? You mean Queen Susan?"

"Who else would I bloody well mean?" Edmund asked, crossing his arms over his chest, as if to shield himself.

"Oh. Right," Caspian seemed to be unsure about what to say next.

Edmund sighed. "Are you going to give me a chance to change or are you going to stand there all day gawking at me?"

Caspian's face went bright red. Well, he _had _rather been eyeing Edmund, his eyes trailing up and down Edmund's naked chest and all the rest of him, which was barely clothed and rather wet.

"Right," Caspian said, finally, backing away and knocking over an expensive looking vase in the process.

He bent down to pick it up. "You know," Edmund said. "It has been 1300 years since a man looked at me like _that_."

This caused Caspian to almost drop the vase again. He managed to put the item back on the table and practically fled from the room.


	2. Duel

**Chapter Two: Duel**

Caspian was apparently so embarrassed about seeing Edmund half naked that he barely spoke to him the next two or three times that they were called to Narnia. One day, however, he found Edmund looking over some old books in the library and he came over.

"There is something that I've been meaning to show you," he said, abruptly.

Edmund raised an eyebrow, but followed Caspian as he began pulling rolled up parchments and maps from a shelf. Caspian rolled one particular parchment out in front of Edmund. Edmund looked down and saw what appeared to be a builder's sketches of a castle. Upon second glance his eyes widened and he looked over at Caspian.

"Cair Paravel. It is our castle. Why?"

Caspian ran a hand through his hair, nervously. "I was thinking of rebuilding it, actually. Give the Old Narnians a castle that they can call their own. What do you think?" He looked at Edmund, anxiously.

Edmund looked down at the sketches for long moments. "Have you shown this to the others?"

Caspian shook his head. "No, just you."

Edmund looked at them some more, trying to think of some kingly advice to offer. "It wouldn't be a bad move, politically, assuming that it doesn't bankrupt you, of course. Is it financially feasible?"

"I think so," Caspian said. "Look, what I really want to know is do you like the idea or … well, would it be too painful. This is going to be a very accurate re-creation of Cair Paravel. Would it make you feel too sad to stand in your old castle – with, well, with none of the old faces."

Edmund was surprised that Caspian had been so sensitive to their feelings. He certainly wasn't so sensitive when he was calling them all to Narnia every other day. Edmund hadn't even thought of how it would feel. "I suppose that it wouldn't be easy, in a way," he said, after some thought. "But I think that we'd like it well enough after the initial shock. It _would_ be wonderful to see Cair Paravel again."

Caspian seemed pleased with this response. "Good, because I'm partly doing this for you, you know – all of you, I mean, so it wouldn't do if you hated it."

"Well," Edmund felt the need to warn him, "if you are doing it to impress Susan then I should tell you that she is probably the one of us who is least likely to approve of the idea. It isn't terribly practical, you see. You already have a perfectly good castle here – larger, closer to the center of the kingdom, more defensible from attack."

"I wasn't doing it just to impress her," Caspian muttered. "You were wrong before, you know. I haven't been calling all of you here just so I can walk around with Susan on my arm."

This truly caught Edmund off guard. "Really? But that is all you seem to do."

Caspian scratched his chin. "Well, once she is here, I can't exactly ignore her. I mean, we are courting, I suppose."

"You suppose?" Edmund asked and realized for the first time that it was _Susan _who had kissed Caspian that first time and it was still usually Susan who leaned over to kiss Caspian on the cheek or who grabbed his hand. "So why do you keep calling us, then?"

Caspian shrugged. "For advice. Reassurance, I suppose."

"You never ask our advice," Edmund objected. "Except for just now."

"Well, not _yours_."

Edmund stepped back, offended. Did Caspian think that his advice wasn't good enough? _Edmund _was the one who was clever and good at advising, but he supposed that people would always assume that Peter was better at _everything_. "Why not mine?"

Caspian gave shot him a smirk. "Because you always seemed to be so angry at being here. I didn't want to bother you."

"Oh," Edmund said, unable to deny it.

-- -- --

Lucy clapped her hands. "I think it is a wonderful idea."

"I agree," said Edmund, who, of course, had already been told about the plans for Cair Paravel and thus had time to school his reactions.

Susan scowled at them. "Well, I think it is the silliest thing I've ever heard in my life. Why on earth do you need to build another castle? This one is perfectly fine – better situated, in fact."

Caspian smiled at Edmund. "Yes, your brother has already told me about all of that and I am told by my architects that we can improve the fortifications while still capturing the general feel of the castle."

Susan looked back and forth between Edmund and Caspian and her face went red, but not for the reason Edmund would have thought. "You've already talked this over with Edmund?" she asked.

Caspian looked confused. "Yes."

She sat down, abruptly and wouldn't be budged by the rest of them. "You obviously don't want _my _input," she said to Caspian.

-- -- --

It was over a month before Caspian called them again. Edmund had begun to really worry. What if Caspian could no longer call them? What if time in Narnia had started to pass faster and a few hundred years had slipped by without them realizing it? Normally, three or four Narnian days passed for every day that they spent in their own world, but there was no reason that couldn't change.

"Why haven't you called us?" Edmund asked as soon as he set eyes on Caspian.

"Yes," Susan agreed. "I've been worried sick." Edmund looked at his sister and saw the same anxiousness that he felt reflected in her eyes. He chewed his lip.

Caspian looked at them wearily. "There has been trouble to the north with the giants. I've been up there until yesterday."

Edmund saw Peter shake his head, his eyes smoldering at this new threat to Narnia. "Those giants are always trouble."

Of course, the rest of the day was spent in Edmund, Peter, and Caspian discussing military strategy.

When Peter went to speak to one of the generals, Edmund talked to Caspian. "Here, I was hoping to give you good advice, but you seem to know more about the situation than me or Peter," he said, smiling.

Caspian smiled back. "It certainly doesn't feel that way."

Edmund raised an eyebrow. "Well, you do. Not that I'm not happy to be here – I was as worried as Susan -- but you don't _have _to have us here. You could handle it without us."

"Maybe. Maybe it was easier because there were four of you, but didn't you ever feel like you needed some help when you began your reign?"

Edmund laughed. "Are you kidding? Of course we did. We weren't raised to rule a kingdom like you. We weren't even raised in the nobility. But we had to sort of feel our way along in the dark and somehow figure out what was right."

Caspian gave him a sidelong look. "But if you had owned a horn that could call, say, King Frank and Queen Helen, the first king and queen of Narnia, up to give you advice any time you wanted, wouldn't you have used it?"

Edmund hadn't thought of it that way. "I guess we would have."

Caspian gave a small nod as if glad that they understood one another.

-- -- --

"You never spend any time with me anymore," Susan told Caspian. It wasn't said in an angry way, just in a slightly regretful way.

Caspian shrugged. "I apologize. I've been busy with planning this campaign to the north."

"I know how to fight battles too, you know," Susan told him reproachfully.

"You do?" Peter asked, doubtfully and Edmund snickered outright. Susan was good with a bow, but military strategy had never been one of her interests.

"Yes, _boys_," she told them.

Caspian soothed her. "There is to be a ball in three weeks. We will go together."

-- -- --

It was the holidays and Susan was in one of the worst moods that Edmund had ever seen her in. True, he and Lucy _had _been throwing tiny pieces of bread at one another at dinner while Mother wasn't looking, but he hadn't meant to dump Susan's dinner in her lap.

"Really, Ed," she said furiously when she went up to the bathroom to make a futile attempt to get the stains out of her skirt. "You'd think that by your age, you would be more mature."

"Well," Lucy said, trying to look on the bright side. "At least you won't have to eat your peas."

Susan glared at Lucy who attempting to help her scrub her skirt. Edmund had a feeling that she thought this statement was childish as well.

"You're in a fine mood," Edmund said. "I've already said that I am sorry."

Just before bedtime, Edmund came up to the girls' room to try apologizing one more time. He caught Susan sitting in of her mirror, just staring at herself. Not combing her hair or putting on the makeup that she often wore, but just looking.

"Have you heard Caspian's latest idiotic scheme?" she asked softly, without looking at him. "He wants to sail out to find those friends of his father's who were never heard of again. Not just send an expedition, mind you, he wants to go himself. And if he can't find them at any of the islands, then he wants to keep sailing on. Into the unknown."

It didn't sound like such a stupid idea to Edmund. When they were all ruling Narnia, he and Lucy had tried for years to convince Peter and Susan that there should be exploration of the lands beyond the Lone Islands. He didn't tell Susan this, however, because she seemed so very upset.

"He didn't tell me," Edmund said, as though there was some sort of need to reassure her that they were not in competition with one another.

Susan looked at herself some more. "He never listens to me. He doesn't really need me. Narnia doesn't really need me."

-- -- --

Looking at Caspian and Susan that night, Edmund could hardly believe that they had been arguing so much lately. He could see why the Narnians so loved the image of them together – they are beautiful, vivacious, vibrant. Caspian whirled Susan about the dance floor as if neither of them have a care in the world.

"They are so perfect together," Edmund muttered and somehow, the knowledge was painful. "Why couldn't I see it before?" Edmund had been speaking to himself, but Lucy looked over and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Come and dance with me, Ed," she said, softly.

Edmund could barely keep his eyes off of them the whole night, but he retired to the sitting chamber that he had been given early. He was sick of the music and the light and the Telmarine girls wanting to dance with him. He poured himself a glass of wine, but he didn't drink it. He just held it and swished the dark liquid around in the glass.

After a long while, he heard Caspian and Susan talking at the door outside her room. He knew the routine. They would talk for ten minutes or so and then he would give her a rather chaste kiss on the lips and he would go to his own chambers. They never did anything terribly interesting. They were not very – passionate.

When Edmund heard Susan's door close, he went to his own door, opened it about halfway, caught Caspian's eye and motioned the young king inside. Edmund sat down with his booted feet propped up on the table. He did not offer Caspian a seat.

Edmund did not waste time. "As you've been courting Susan for quite a while now, I feel that it is my duty, as her brother, to ask you what your intentions are."

"My – what?" Caspian asked. He seemed to sense that Edmund was not totally serious, but was unsure what this was all about.

"Your intentions. For example, do you intend to marry her?"

Caspian's eyes widened. "Marry her? No – I mean, I don't think so. I mean, we are both still very young, King Edmund." He was looking at Edmund warily, now.

"Well, then," Edmund sat up straighter and grinned challengingly at Caspian, "I'm afraid that I must challenge you to a duel."

Caspian looked thoroughly confused. "A duel? But --"

"And," Edmund went on, ignoring Caspian's objections, "as my sister is the injured party, I demand the right to choose the type of weapons that we shall use."

Caspian gave up trying to make sense of this and decided to play along. "What will it be, then?" He had one hand on his hip and a cocky sort of look on his face. "Swords? Axes? Our bare hands?"

Edmund reached under the table. "Bottles," he said, placing the wine bottle on the table.

Caspian actually gave a good-hearted laugh before he schooled his face into a fake seriousness. "Why King Edmund," he chastised. "Your sister informed me that you are considered too young to drink wine in your own world. Shall I send someone down to the kitchen to fetch you a jug of milk?"

Edmund didn't blush; he merely looked Caspian straight in the eye. "We are not in my world," he said, very distinctly.

"I see," Caspian sat down. He picked up the bottle and looked at it. "I don't know what things were like in your time, but these days, this type of Archenlander wine is considered too strong to drink. You have to mix it with water."

Edmund, who knew all about Archenland wine, smiled. He picked up the glass and managed to down it in three gulps. His eyes watered. It _was _strong stuff. "They wouldn't have put it in that fancy bottle if they meant you to mix it with water before drinking it. You can pick your own weapon, though. Perhaps you'd like a sweeter wine. Or we could always send to the kitchens for that jug of milk."

Edmund offered Caspian a glass, and, never taking his eyes off Edmund, Caspian poured the strong wine. It took him longer to drink it than Edmund, but he managed to down the whole glass without flinching.

-- -- --

This was bad. Caspian had one of his fingers shoved up inside the wine bottle and was waving it around. He looked like he was conducting an orchestra. With a wine bottle. Edmund really should have thought this through more. If Susan found out that he had got Caspian drunk, then she would kill them both. Peter probably wouldn't be too happy either. Edmund had to get Caspian down the hall and into his own bed without anyone seeing him.

Edmund managed to stumble to his feet – he wasn't as drunk as Caspian, but he wasn't exactly sober either. He took Caspian's arm and lifted him to his feet. "Where are we going?" Caspian asked. "Can we go dance? I like to dance."

"I think you've danced enough for tonight," Edmund muttered. "Besides, you can barely stand." Caspian laughed hysterically as if Edmund had made a terribly funny joke. Edmund struggled to guide Caspian through the halls, but Caspian kept getting away from him and stumbling into the walls. Edmund was sure that they would wake up the entire castle, but everything remained quiet.

Edmund sighed with relief as he dumped Caspian into his bed, but as he turned to leave, Caspian grabbed him by the tunic and pulled him down into the bed. Edmund waited a moment and tried to get up, but Caspian pulled him down again. And again. As if it were some sort of game. Edmund knew better than to try to argue with someone who was drunk, so he lay still.

After a few minutes, he noticed that Caspian was not drifting off to sleep as he had expected, but was staring at him very intensely. Suddenly self-conscious, Edmund tried to keep from breathing very loudly. He wondered what Caspian was thinking.

"You're very odd looking," Caspian said.

Well. Now he knew. "Thanks," Edmund said, sarcastically.

"No, I mean your hair and eyes are dark like a Telmarine, but your skin is as fair as an Archenlander. Strange. I remember the first time I saw an Archenlander." Apparently Caspian was the type who babbled when he was drunk. "I was five and a delegation of them came here to the castle. I was scared of the ones with blue eyes. I had never seen blue eyes before. Nothing else about the way they looked scared me, just the eyes." Edmund remembered, idly, that Susan had blue eyes.

"Your skin really is amazing, you know," Caspian went on. "It is amazing _all_ over. I remember. I saw – you were all wet and I saw." Caspian's was running his hand over Edmund's cheek and down his neck and tracing the collar of his tunic. "The wine has stained your lips," he ran his thumb over Edmund's lips.

_He's going to kiss me. He's going to kiss me. He's going to kiss me, _Edmund thought and his heart was beating very fast. But Caspian didn't kiss him, he just rolled over and promptly fell asleep.

Damn.

-- -- --

Edmund awoke to see Caspian lying beside him. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he supposed that it wasn't a bad thing. He looked down at Caspian's sleeping form and began playing with a tendril of dark hair. Why did Caspian have to be so handsome?

Edmund had his back to the door, but he had the odd feeling that he was being watched. He turned around and his heart skipped a beat. Susan. He had forgot that she often came into Caspian's room in the mornings. Most people wouldn't think much of seeing two fully clothed young men in a bed together – they would just assume that something had been wrong with Edmund's bedroom or he had happened to fall asleep, but Susan knew Edmund. She knew how he was back when they were all kings and queens of Narnia and she knew which way his tastes ran.

Susan looked at him carefully and, without a word, she turned and left the room.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Edmund got out of the bed as fast as he could and ran after Susan. Caspian didn't stir from his place. "Su! Susan!" Edmund yelled, running after her. "Su, stop!"

Susan stopped and turned to face him, obviously angry. "I didn't expect my _brother _to steal my boyfriend, Edmund," she said.

"I didn't," Edmund was breathless. "I mean, it wasn't like that. I mean, we didn't sleep together. Well, obviously we slept together, but not like that. We didn't even kiss."

Susan crossed her arms, skeptically. "You didn't sleep together?" she asked.

"No."

"And you didn't kiss him?"

"No."

Susan looked at him, carefully. "Did you want to kiss him?"

"I --" Edmund's objection caught in his throat. He _had _wanted to kiss Caspian and was wondering if he should lie. His moment of silence was apparently enough answer for his sister as she threw her hands in the air in exasperation and walked away.

"Su!" he yelled after her, but he felt something pluck at him and knew that he was being called back to his own world. Why did they never have any control over when they went back? That wasn't how it was the first time. After a moment, Edmund found himself back at his boarding school with no chance of having a private conversation with Susan.

The next time Caspian blew the horn, Susan did not come. The others worried the whole time she was gone, but Edmund knew that nothing was wrong. His sister had simply chosen not to show up.


	3. Kiss

_AN: Thanks so much for all the feedback, guys. I've been working like crazy on this story and here is Chapter 3!_

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Chapter Three: Kiss

"I have a confession to make." Edmund said to Caspian one afternoon when they were all out in the stables, looking at the horses.

"What's that?" Caspian smiled. They had been laughing earlier and Caspian most likely thought it was some sort of joke.

Edmund paused. "I think I'm the reason Susan doesn't come back," he said finally.

Caspian face became more serious and he looked at Edmund with concern. "What do you mean?"

Edmund didn't quite know how to tell him. How do you tell someone – a boy, no less – that you were stroking their hair while they were asleep? "I have a sort of sickness," he began.

Caspian jumped on this immediately. "You're sick?" he asked. "Is it serious? Have you seen a healer?"

Edmund shook his head. "No," he said, in frustration. He was putting it all wrong. "I'm not sick. I mean, not like that. I mean, listen, do you remember that night when we got drunk?"

Caspian grinned at him but there was still confusion behind it. "When you challenged me to a 'duel', you mean? Yes, I remember."

"Well, I don't know if you remember this, but I helped you back to your room and you sort of – um – wouldn't let me leave," Edmund knew that he was babbling, but he couldn't stop. "Anyway, Susan sort of saw some things and she knows that I have – I have really odd tastes, romantically I mean, and she –"

Caspian's brow was crinkled up as if he was trying to make sense of what Edmund was saying. Likely, an impossible task. "Did she see us kiss?" he asked, finally.

Now it was Edmund's turn to gape. "Kiss? You mean you and me." He managed a confused laugh.

"Uh-huh," Caspian seemed suddenly distracted by a beautiful black stallion and ignored Edmund trying to catch his eye.

"Well, it would be very hard for her to see that considering that _it never happened_," he said, a bit angry.

Caspian turned and looked at him in confusion. "Never happened? But I remember – we were talking. I think I was talking about your skin. I was _so _drunk," he grinned. "I don't usually drink strong wine. Anyway, I was talking about your skin and then I kissed you and then I went to sleep."

Edmund knew that he was staring Caspian open-mouthed. "I didn't know that wine caused _hallucinations_," he said, in annoyance. "The rest of it happened, but you didn't kiss me. Trust me, I would remember." Edmund hadn't really meant to say that last part.

"Well, maybe," Caspian said and shrugged. His face was very, very close to Edmund's and Edmund hoped that Peter and Lucy, who were at the other end of the stable, couldn't see. "But I was so sure." Caspian's face was so near that Edmund felt that if he breathed, their lips would touch. "I can remember the way your lips felt," he smirked and quite suddenly, he drew away and went back to looking at the black stallion.

Edmund sighed in frustration. Caspian was such … a tease.

-- -- --

"But there has to be some way to get her to come," Lucy said, in distress. Susan's absence was now a dark spot over their times in Narnia. Particularly for Lucy, who always wanted everyone to be happy. "I keep trying to talk to her at school, but she just says that she has decided that it is better if she doesn't come anymore."

Peter sighed. "Maybe she's right. Maybe I shouldn't be here either."

"No," Caspian said, firmly. "I want you all here. You are all supposed to come when I call." Peter and Lucy both looked at Caspian expectantly. "And of course I miss Susan terribly," he added, but Edmund could tell that he had only said this because they had so obviously been expecting it of him.

"I should talk to her," Edmund said, guilty. "It's almost summer holidays. I'll talk to her then."

Peter picked up on his guilty tone right away. "Why would you need to talk to her?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Before Edmund could answer, Caspian put on his most charming smile. And Caspian could be very charming when he wanted to be. "Is it not natural that he would be concerned for his sister?"

Peter was not moved. He looked at Caspian without smiling. "No."

That rather offended Edmund. He had feelings the same as the rest of them! He hated to think that he was the reason that Susan wasn't coming anymore.

-- -- --

The giant's cudgel slammed into the ground beside Edmund, knocking him into the air. He fell, face down, to the ground. He lay still a few moments before standing, unsteadily, to his feet, and going on with the battle. He didn't think much of it until after the battle, when Caspian came up to him and embraced him, heartily.

"I saw you fall," he whispered. "I was so worried."

Horrified, Edmund pushed Caspian away. "Get off," he whispered, panicked.

Caspian looked hurt and Edmund realized, too late, that he shouldn't have reacted so dramatically. People in Narnia hugged all the time. His pushing Caspian away would look stranger than the hug itself.

"Look, I'm sorry," Edmund muttered. "Things are different in my world. Men do not hug one another."

Caspian thought about this for a good long while and then smiled. "We are not in your world," he said, looking at Edmund, intensely.

-- -- --

"So you honestly thought that we kissed that night," Edmund said and he thought that his own voice sounded like a moonstruck twelve-year-old girl. Wonderful.

"Honestly," Caspian said, smiling. This was the first time that they were able to speak in private since the battle. And they were alone in Caspian's sitting room.

"And you weren't angry about it?" Edmund asked.

"Of course not. It sounds like it may be different in your world, but here it isn't so uncommon for two men to … kiss," Caspian said the word "kiss" after a long pause as if he had been meaning to say something else. "Besides, I thought that I was the one who kissed you."

"So," Edmund said, trying to sound clever and confident and nonchalant. "Did you like the idea?"

He wasn't expecting the type of response that he got. "Like it?" Caspian shifted on the sofa that they were both seated on so that he was looking directly at Edmund. Edmund's throat went dry. Caspian's dark eyes had so much fire in them at times. "It is all that I can think about."

"Why didn't you say something to me about it, earlier, if you really liked it," Edmund murmured, but his mind was not on what he was saying, it was on Caspian's hand, which was now resting on his knee.

"Because I thought that _you _didn't. I was waiting for you to bring it up, but of course you didn't because it never happened." Edmund knew that he was supposed too say something to this, but he couldn't speak. After a moment's silence, Caspian went on. "I do think about it all the time, though. Sometimes …" here he hesitated, "sometimes, I think about it when I am alone in my bed. I imagine your lips kissing me and your hands touching me."

"That's," Edmund couldn't find the right words. "I mean, if you'd said it about some girl, I would think it was the most disgusting thing that I had ever heard. But when you say it about me, it is …" _arousing_, Edmund thought, but he didn't say it out loud.

Edmund had a feeling that Caspian knew what he was thinking. He grinned and leaned in so that his face was _very _close to Edmund's and then … he drew away.

Caspian was _such_ a tease.

-- -- --

Susan was different. She had always been obsessed with being grown-up, ever since she was a little girl who thought that Edmund and Lucy were her baby dolls, but now she was just different. During the summer holidays, they never got to see her because she was always out with friends or out with a boy. Apparently, she forgot Caspian fairly easily. She wore so much makeup that she didn't even look like herself. Edmund had meant to speak with her about Caspian and Narnia, but he didn't because it would have been like talking to a stranger.

Eventually, however, he managed to corner her when she was alone in her room. She was putting on lipstick in front of her mirror. "Look, Su, I wish you would come back to Narnia," he said. She turned and looked at him, meaningfully, for a moment before going back to what she was doing. She had barely said two words to him all summer – not that there was much opportunity. It was hard for him to go on. "Nothing has happened with me and Caspian," he said, finally. "And nothing is going to happen. If you came back, then everything could be like it was before."

Susan gave a rather humorless laugh. "Like it was before?" she turned around and looked at Edmund, but didn't seem angry with him. "Listen, Ed," she sighed, "things were never right between Caspian and I. He's a nice boy, nice to look at too, but there was just nothing there. I think – I think I was just using him. As a way to hang onto Narnia when I should really be letting go."

Was this a blessing from her? He wished that he could talk to Susan about Caspian. She was the one that he used to talk about men with – on the few occasions that he felt like talking, that is, he mostly kept those types of things to himself. Lucy was understanding, but was so young and innocent and Peter didn't really approve, so Susan was the one that he usually told about his love interests. "I wish that you'd come back to Narnia, all the same." Edmund muttered.

Susan gave him a small, sad smile. "Aslan told us not to, you know."

"But I don't think that he meant for you to forget about it, totally. You never even talk about it anymore."

Susan sighed. "What is the good in remembering, when I can't go back? Better to just live completely in this world."

"You _can't _get back?" Edmund asked, quietly.

Susan paused and Edmund thought that she looked a bit scared. "You know, I don't think I can," she whispered. "The first few times, I felt the tugging, and I – I just decided that I wasn't going to come. And I didn't. But these last times that all of you have come back with tales of Narnia – well, I haven't felt anything."

The statement gave Edmund chills. "I see."

There was a moment of long, awkward silence. Finally, Susan reached over and took his hand. "Be careful, Ed," she said. "I'm scared for you. Narnia is one thing, but you always have to come back here eventually. Someday, you'll have to live here for good." She laughed, nervously, but then went on, more serious. "When you were in Narnia, you were king and could do whatever you wanted and besides, the Narnians didn't have much interest in who you … _kissed_," Susan took his other hand and looked him directly in eye. "But here, in England, in the real world, it is different. There are people here who would hurt you if they ever found out. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes," Edmund said, squirming, uncomfortably. How could she be thinking of him now? When he was thinking about, well, stealing her boyfriend.

"Good," Susan said, squeezing his hands. "Because I don't think it is good for you to get yourself all excited with Caspian and then have to come back here and try to be normal."

Edmund felt terribly embarrassed by all this, but he knew that, in a way, Susan was certainly right. He wasn't sure that he would be taking her advice, though.

-- -- --

"I wish Su could be here," Lucy said, quietly, as they stood in the new Cair Paravel looking at the dais where the thrones would set.

"It is going to be amazing," Peter said and he also sounded a little choked up.

Edmund shivered. It was winter in Narnia. "When is it going to be finished?" he asked.

Caspian, who had been staring at the half finished ceiling intently, looked around and answered. "It will still be some time," he said. "But parts of it are already complete and ready for living. The western tower, for example --"

"The western tower?" Edmund asked, with interest. His old room was in the western tower.

"Yes," Caspian said. His voice was perfectly polite, but for some reason that Edmund couldn't fathom, there was challenge in his eyes. "Would you like to see, King Edmund?"

"Er … sure," Edmund said, feeling awkward. "Are you two coming?" he asked Peter and Lucy.

"Not me," Peter said. "I wanted to talk to some of the builders, remember?"

"I'll stay with you, Peter," Lucy said, giving Edmund a somewhat amused look.

Caspian smirked. "Shall we go then, Edmund?"

Edmund, of course, had no choice but to follow. As they climbed the stairs, Caspian told him about the types of marble and wood that were being used and which artisan did which carving or sculpture. It was all said in the most courteous voice, but Edmund was on his guard. He had a feeling that it wouldn't last.

"Your old room is already completely finished. Furniture in it, tapestries hung – everything."

Edmund couldn't think of what to say, so he was silent.

They came to his door and Caspian turned to face him. "I thought that you would be pleased, to have your old room completed. You can even sleep in it tonight, if you stay."

Edmund made a noncommittal noise. Caspian crossed his arms as though Edmund were being terribly rude. "Or," he said, after a pause. "I could sleep in it. I could sleep in it and imagine that you are asleep beside me." Edmund narrowed his eyes. He was getting sick of this teasing. It was as though Caspian liked to see how far he could push Edmund before Edmund snapped. "I could imagine that I was running my hand over all that beautiful skin, all naked and lain out for my touch. And then, maybe you would wake up and kiss my neck and touch me." Edmund was gritting his teeth and patiently enduring this taunting. "And maybe while I'm _imagining _you touching me, I'll touch myself and --"

That was it. Edmund slammed Caspian against the stone wall and kissed him hard on the lips. Caspian moaned in pleasure as Edmund forced his tongue in the other man's mouth. When the kiss was broken, Caspian laughed in pleasure. "Or we could just do this."

Apparently not liking being held hard against the wall – Edmund wouldn't have been surprised if his back was bruised – Caspian pushed Edmund back, then grabbed his arm and twisted it around his back, pushing Edmund against the opposite wall. Luckily, he wasn't as violent as Edmund had been earlier, or Edmund most likely would have ended up with a broken nose.

"You're stronger than you look," Edmund whispered, but Caspian was too busy kissing his neck and working on his belt to take notice. After a few moments, Edmund's belt fell to the ground. _He's going to bugger me right here, against the wall_, Edmund thought and he found that it was an exciting idea. Soon, however, Caspian's frantic kisses slacked off and his movements became more uncertain.

"What's wrong?" Edmund taunted. "Don't know how to do it?"

"Shut up," Caspian murmured, but his arms, which were now around Edmund's waist, went slack and Edmund realized that it was entirely likely that Caspian really _didn't _know how to do it. Well.

Edmund took advantage of Caspian's relaxed pose to grab his arm, twist it around his back and slam _him _into the wall. He only hoped that he hadn't broken the young king's nose. Now he could bugger him right against the wall, if he wanted to. He wanted to. This time, however, he considered that rather high probability that Peter or Lucy would come up to check on them or that a stray worker would happen to run across them. And the room across the hall _would _have a nice comfy bed. And a lock.

"Bedroom?" he whispered against Caspian's ear.

"Yes, please, your Majesty," Caspian answered, his voice all sweet and submissive, but there was something else behind it. It was as if Caspian knew that by being submissive, he was driving Edmund wild. So in a strange sort of way, he was taking control. Even though it didn't seem that way.

The little bastard.

Well, Edmund would show him who was boss.


	4. Edmund and Caspian

**Chapter Four: Edmund and Caspian**

Edmund lay in Caspian's arms, tracing the contours of the other man's shoulder. "You were so bold," Edmund laughed in amazement. "I didn't notice it at the time because you were also being a tease, but how did you ever get the courage to say all those things to me? How did you know that I would feel the same? How did you know that I wouldn't get angry with you?"

"I think that you did get a little angry with me," Caspian said, laughing as well. "But I knew that you wanted me. I figured it out when you told me that it had been 1300 years since a man looked at you. The way you looked at _me_ – I thought that you would eat me alive. It took me a little longer to realize how much I wanted you."

Caspian pulled the embroidered blanket away from Edmund's body. "Stop that," Edmund said, pulling the blanket back over himself, immediately. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Because I like looking at you," Caspian said. "You're beautiful."

"I am not _beautiful_," Edmund said, indignantly. "Girls are beautiful. And you're the one who dresses like my mum. No, I take that back, my mum doesn't have anything as pretty as you do."

"Is that your way of telling me that you think I'm beautiful too?" Caspian teased.

"_No_," Edmund objected and he reached up, grabbed Caspian's head and kissed him and then bit him, gently.

"Ow," Caspian said, rubbing his own lips. He pulled the blanket away from Edmund's body again.

"Stop that," Edmund said, pulling the blanket back over himself, "I'm … shy, I guess." He leaned up and bit Caspian on the lip again.

"Ow. Shy? You weren't shy a few minutes ago."

Edmund grinned. "You were. I never would have thought it from the way you were flirting with me earlier, but you got shy once we got started."

Caspian blushed. "It was my first time doing anything like that," he said.

This was a bit of a surprise from someone as handsome as Caspian. "Really?" Edmund asked. "You've never even done it with a girl?"

Caspian shook his head. "Susan was the first girl that I ever courted, actually. There wasn't much opportunity with my uncle always breathing down my neck. We only ever kissed and held hands. Oh, and there was that one time --"

"Don't tell me!" Edmund said, in horror, trying to wipe the image of Susan ever being anywhere _near_ Caspian from his mind.

Caspian smirked. Edmund got the distinct feeling that Caspian enjoyed teasing him. Edmund leaned up and bit Caspian again.

"OW!" Caspian said, more seriously this time. Edmund looked up and saw that Caspian's lip was bleeding.

"Oh, sorry," Edmund said. "I didn't mean to nip you that hard."

Caspian brought his finger to his lip, then pulled it away, looking at the small smear of blood on his finger. "That's all right," he said, after a long moment, "later, when you are gone, I can think of you every time my lips starts to hurt."

Edmund raised his eyebrows. "You are a very odd person," he said.

Caspian smiled. "But I haven't given you anything to remember me by," he said and, as quick as lightning, he bent down and bit Edmund on the lip.

"OW!" Edmund objected. "Good God, that hurt!" As if on cue, the room began to dissolve around him and Edmund went from lying naked in Caspian arms to sitting in Latin class listening to his teacher drone on and on. He put his hand to his mouth. There was no injury, but Edmund could swear that his lip was tingling.

-- -- --

Peter was in Edmund's room at school, talking to him.

"How long was it?" his brother demanded. "How long did our last visit to Narnia last?"

Edmund thought for a moment. "About two hours, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Two hours," Peter breathed. "I believe that it was our shortest visit yet. Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know," Edmund said, a bit irritated at this new batch of pointless questions. "Maybe Caspian just needs us for brief little bursts of advice now, not for a long time like he used to." Really, Caspian had blown the horn last time so that he could get Edmund alone in a corner and kiss him, but Edmund didn't tell Peter that.

Peter scratched his chin. "Maybe. But when he first started blowing the horn, sometimes we would stay for days, even a week. Now it is rarely longer than one day. What if the horn only has so much magic and we are using it all up?"

Edmund had to sit down to think about this. It made a fair amount of sense. Or maybe it was Aslan's doing. Maybe now that Caspian was blowing the horn so that he could kiss a boy instead of a girl, Aslan had decided that they didn't really need to stick around for very long.

-- -- --

"I don't know," Peter told Caspian, doubtfully. "It sounds terribly dangerous. And it isn't even as if your people have any experience in seafaring. This will be the first ship that the Telmarines have built in years."

Caspian was prepared for objections. "Part of the reason for building the castle at Cair Paravel was so we could build up a sea trade. We've got to start building ships at some point, we might as well start with the _Dawn Treader_."

"I love the name," said Lucy who was practically quivering with excitement at the whole idea of sailing adventure.

Peter looked at her in mild annoyance. "It just seems awfully ambitious," he said. "And the consequences if something went wrong could be very, very bad."

"Caspian's not ambitious," Edmund said, giving Caspian a teasing look. "He only wants to reconcile the Telmarines and Narnians, defeat the giants, rebuild Cair Paravel, start a new network of trade, sail off and discover new islands … all preferably within the next year or so."

That caused them all to laugh. "Construction begins on the _Dawn Treader _in three weeks," Caspian said, after a few moments. "For better or for worse."

-- -- --

"You handled Peter very well back there," Edmund told Caspian later. "You are learning to be authoritative."

"Well," said Caspian, "I had already decided that I was going to do it. There didn't seem much point in false deference."

Edmund smiled. "A year ago you would have either stammered and spluttered and given in to anything he said or you would have got sulky. You were very kingly."

Caspian sighed. "I never feel kingly when I am around Peter. I'm always thinking to myself _this is High King Peter the Magnificent_ and I feel like such a fraud."

"I know the feeling," Edmund said, before thinking.

Caspian looked at him, sharply. "I suppose that we are in the same situation, in a way. I swore allegiance to Peter when I was crowned. He will always be ahead of me. If he used his rank, then he could make me do as he saw fit. But somehow, I am still called king. It is sort of like that for you, no?"

Except that for all intents and purposes, you rule Narnia in your own name and we are like visiting dignitaries, Edmund thought, but he didn't say it. "Except that I'm King over you and you have to do whatever I say," he said instead. Caspian cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh, do I, King Edmund?" he asked, putting his arm around Edmund's waist. "Most certainly," Edmund replied, arrogantly. Caspian pretended to think about this for a bit. "I recall swearing allegiance to King Peter, but I don't believe that I ever swore allegiance to King Edmund. So I don't have to do anything he says." "King Edmund was crowned 1300 years before you," Edmund objected.

Caspian shrugged. "I have a hard time believing that a 1300-year-old man could have such a nice looking arse."

Edmund choked and Caspian smiled in triumph. He had won this round. "Why are we talking about King Edmund in third person?" was all that Edmund could come up with.

"I don't know," Caspian said, "but if you happen to see him, can you tell him that I'd like to get him alone and --" Caspian leaned close and whispered something obscene in his ear. Well, at least he had the dignity to blush a bit while he was saying it.

Edmund grinned. "We are alone, you halfwit."

"Then I guess now is my opportunity," Caspian said and kissed him.

-- -- --

A week or two later, Edmund was kissing Caspian when he felt something tug at his sleeve. He pulled away, abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Caspian asked.

"I think – I think I have to go," Edmund said.

"Already?" Caspian asked.

"Yes," Edmund said. He suddenly grabbed Caspian around the sides. "Listen – do you miss me when I'm gone?"

"What?"

"Do you miss me when I'm gone?" For some reason, Edmund felt that it was desperately important that he get an answer before he went back.

"Terribly," Edmund had been expecting a clever reply, but Caspian sounded so sincere. "I can't let you be taken away from me."

And Edmund was back in England. He groaned in frustration. How long had that visit lasted? An hour? Less? This was beginning to become very troublesome.

-- -- --

Edmund found Peter in the dining hall. Normally, he would be a bit nervous about approaching Peter in front of his brother's friends, but at the moment, it didn't bother him.

"I need to talk to you," he said, tapping Peter on the shoulder.

Peter sighed and looked at him reluctantly. "Is it important?"

"_Yes_," Edmund said, knowing perfectly well that Peter knew what this was about.

When they were in a secluded corner of the hallway, Edmund turned on his brother. "Why weren't you in Narnia a few minutes ago?" he asked.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and shrugged sheepishly. "It's just hard, you know. Being there, being here. I was busy a few minutes ago and I knew that Caspian didn't _really _need us – he never does. So I just sort of decided that I wasn't going to go. I feel sort of strange, really. I didn't really think that it would work. I thought that the horn would just pull me along anyway."

"So you're coming back next time?" Edmund asked, relieved.

Peter shook his head, slowly. "I don't think I am, Ed. You know how much I love Narnia, but I don't think that I am doing much good there anymore. Caspian needs a chance to really come into his own and he'll never get it while I'm around. It's different with you and Lucy."

Edmund scuffed his feet.

Peter smiled at him. "You were the one who kept telling me that it was so annoying, being called out of our world."

"It was," Edmund sighed. "But not anymore. Things are … different."

Peter looked at him, firmly. "If Caspian calls you again, then I shall have to depend on you and Lucy to advise him. You, especially. Show him how to be a good king, alright?"

"Alright," Edmund said, feeling very unsure.

-- -- --

"Look on the bright side," Edmund was trying to cheer Lucy up and failing miserably because it was usually Peter who cheered her up, "at least we won't get bossed around so much. Peter and Su were always telling us to put on a coat or eat our carrots like we were bloody three years old."

"Or not to sit on a ledge?" she asked. They were sitting on a ledge at Cair Paravel (still half finished), looking out at the sea.

"Exactly," Edmund smiled, "we're going to fall and break our necks."

Lucy gave him a small smile. "Does this mean that you get to start bossing me around now?" Lucy asked.

Edmund snorted. "It's not like I've never tried to tell you what to do. You just always ignore me." Lucy giggled. "Besides," he went on, "I've got better things to do with my time in Narnia than boss you around."

"Like kiss Caspian?" Lucy asked, slyly.

Edmund looked over at her. "Susan told you," he said, finally.

Lucy's eyes widened. "No. Susan knows? It was just obvious. Every time he lays eyes on you, he looks like he is going to eat you up. And you are always alone together."

Edmund squirmed, uncomfortably. He wished that he could just leave, but Lucy was looking at him carefully. "Look, it's not --" Edmund began, but Lucy cut him off.

"I'm happy for you," she said. "I really like Caspian." Then she hugged him and as Edmund's gut reaction to someone hugging him was usually to push him or her away as hard as possible, she almost ended up splattered on the ground below them. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to sit on the ledge after all.

"I'm afraid that Aslan will be displeased with me," Edmund admitted to her. "Back when we were ruling, 1300 years ago, he told me that that I was wasting all my time with fooling around with men when I should be ruling Narnia. So I stopped. But I don't know if I can stop with Caspian."

Lucy frowned at this. "You'll have to stop if Aslan asks you to, won't you? But I don' t think he will."

Edmund crossed his arms. "Two boys together is wrong. Everyone knows it," he kicked his feet out in the air. "I don't know what is wrong with me."

Lucy tried to hug him again, but this time Edmund anticipated it and leaned away so that _he _almost ended up splattered on the ground. Sitting on the ledge was _really _not a good idea.

-- -- --

This time, Edmund didn't even have time to grab his trousers. He _barely _managed to lay his hands on a ragged towel and wrap it around his waist before he was standing in Narnia, dripping on the marble again. At least this time, there was no one in the room but him and Caspian. And Lucy. Damn.

Why was _he _always the one who was taking a shower when the horn was blown? It was like the horn knew that Caspian wanted to see him naked. Lucy, who was in her nightgown, but not otherwise troubled, was giggling at him. Again.

Caspian was staring at him with a flushed face. Again. The young king made a brave attempt to speak. "I am sorry. I called to speak to you both about the _Dawn Treader_. I …" Caspian trailed off as he ran his eyes up and down Edmund's body very openly.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh, go on, you two," she said.

This was all the encouragement that Caspian needed. "Shall we go get you cleaned up?" he asked Edmund. Edmund was pretty sure that by "get you cleaned up", Caspian meant "have sex in the next room".

Edmund narrowed his eyes, a bit angry. "_Anything_ that will get you to stop leering at me in front of my sister."

When he and Caspian were alone, Caspian was even more ardent than usual. "I've missed you," he said, his lips moving down Edmund's chest. "I want you. I love you."

Edmund pulled away and looked at Caspian. Then, he laughed and shrugged it off. It was nothing. He started kissing Caspian's neck. "Ed … Edmund," Caspian muttered after a moment. He pushed Edmund away. "I meant it. I love you."

"Stop it," Edmund said, kissing him. "No you don't." Edmund gave him a long kiss, slow on the lips.

"Yes I do," said Caspian when they were finished.

Edmund groaned in frustration. "You can't love me," he said. "I'm a boy."

Caspian shrugged and smiled, but his eyes were troubled. "Never stopped us before."

Edmund rolled his eyes. "What I mean is someday you'll have to marry some beautiful princess or great lady and you you'll be so in love with her that it'll make anyone watching sick to their stomach."

Caspian thought about this for a moment. "Maybe. But I still love you."

Edmund bit him on the lip.

-- -- --

It was a rare thing for Edmund to be in Narnia and not be with Caspian, but that night, he was walking down the beach alone. He had almost forgot what a good place an empty beach could be to clear one's head. After a long time, he turned and looked back and he saw a gigantic lion standing not ten feet away. Aslan.

Usually, when Edmund looked at Aslan, he felt great reverence, but not tonight. He forgot how good and great Aslan was and everything that the lion had done for him. Edmund was angry. "Why?" he asked. "Why can't I be with him? Why is it so wrong for me to care for him?"

Aslan looked at him and Edmund couldn't tell if his expression was stern or sympathetic or loving. Maybe it was all those things. "Did I say that it was wrong?" he asked.

"No, but --"

"Then do not put words into my mouth, Son of Adam," Aslan growled.

Edmund crossed his arms, but even in his current state of mind, he couldn't argue with Aslan. Instead, he asked a question. "Why were Peter and Susan able to come back to Narnia even after you told them that they wouldn't be?"

"I told Peter and Susan that they _shouldn't _come back to Narnia. I did not tell them this without cause. Because your brother and sister came to Narnia when I advised them not to, things will be harder for them. They will find it harder to go back to living in your world."

Edmund thought about this for a moment. "So you did it for _their _sakes?" this was something that he hadn't considered.

Aslan nodded, if it is possible for a lion to nod. "Of course. I told you as much. I told you that your brother and sister have learned all that they can from this world. But also for Narnia's sake. It will be harder for Caspian as well, because he kept calling them back."

"So it was up to them the whole time? What you told them – it was just advice?" Edmund stepped closer to Aslan, slowly.

"Every man decides his own destiny. Even if he does not always realize it."

"Free will and all that," Edmund said. His voice was shaky and he was trembling. Must be the cold.

"Do not worry too much," Aslan said, kindly. "They made the right decision, in the end."

Edmund shook his head. "I'm sorry. I was angry with you a moment ago. You told me, long ago, that it was wrong for me to be the way that I am – with men."

"Edmund," Aslan said, gently, "I think that you have misunderstood me. Treating your body lightly was wrong. For much the same reason that it was wrong for your brother and sister to keep coming to Narnia – it wasn't helping you and it wasn't helping Narnia. In fact, it was hurting you," Aslan's voice was very deep. Edmund found that he had a hard time looking the Lion in the face. "But love – love is never wrong." Edmund looked up, sharply.

"The horn," he said, "it doesn't work as well as it used to."

"The horn is a magical artifact. Like many magical artifacts, it has limited capacities. If you use it when it is not truly needed, then it may start to break. Someday, it may not work at all."

"And _that _is certainly no good for Narnia," Edmund said, frustrated. "He has to stop using it." Aslan gave no sign of either conformation or denial, but Edmund knew that it was true. Edmund may never see Caspian again, but the horn must be saved.

Aslan looked at down at him. "Do not panic. There are more routes to Narnia than by the horn. When Caspian has need of you, I have a feeling that you will be here. I understand that he is about to undertake a dangerous voyage."

"Yes --" Edmund had been looking at the ground again, and when he looked up, Aslan was gone.

-- -- --

"If you are not back in three months, then I am blowing the horn," Caspian's arms were around Edmund's waist as they tried to bid one another goodbye. Aslan was standing nearby with Lucy. Aslan would be taking them back himself, this time.

"Don't," Edmund said and Caspian bit his lip, lightly. "Ow."

"Six months, then," said Caspian.

"No," Edmund insisted and Caspian bit him on the lip again. "Ow. Don't use it again. Aslan said that I'd see you soon."

"One year, then," Caspian said and Edmund glared at him. Caspian sighed. "Fine. I won't use it. But I'll miss you."

Edmund rolled his eyes, a bit embarrassed. "I'll miss you too."

"I love you," Caspian said.

Edmund punched his arm. "Shut up."

"I do," Caspian was perfectly serious. "I love you."

Edmund knew that his face was crimson. "Later. Don't say that here."

Caspian leaned down and bit Edmund's lip – hard this time. "OW," Edmund objected. "Fine, I love you too. Prig."

Caspian seemed satisfied, because he smiled. Edmund walked back towards the others, trying to ignore Lucy's snickering at his bloody lip. "I'm ready," he told Aslan. He looked back and saw Caspian positively _smirking _at him. It occurred to Edmund that Caspian had wounded his lip, but he had neglected to give Caspian something to remember _him _by.

Edmund hoped that he would be coming back very, very soon.


End file.
